CRM · 10-Q · 2026Q3 · Full report

Operating Expense Trends

Salesforce, Inc. · 2026-08-27 · Importance 48 · Surprise 40 · From source text

Six-month research and development expense increased to $3.314 billion from $2.941 billion, primarily because of higher employee-related costs, hosting services, and generative-AI technology spending. Six-month sales and marketing expense increased to $7.628 billion from $6.872 billion, driven by employee costs, stock-based compensation, and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets. General and administrative expense was relatively flat at $1.465 billion versus $1.431 billion, with revenue growth exceeding expense growth by approximately 1 percentage point of revenue. Salesforce expects to reinvest efficiency savings from generative AI into its product roadmap and leverage self-serve, partner-led, AI, and agent-enabled sales channels.

Key facts

• Sales and marketing expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2026 were $3,859 million compared to $3,443 million for the three months ended July 31, 2025. source
• Cost of subscription and support revenues for the three months ended July 31, 2026 was $2,021 million compared to $1,645 million for the three months ended July 31, 2025. source
• Total cost of revenues for the three months ended July 31, 2026 was $2,649 million compared to $2,242 million for the three months ended July 31, 2025. source
• Research and development expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2026 were $1,687 million compared to $1,481 million for the three months ended July 31, 2025. source
• We expect that research and development expenses will likely remain consistent as a percentage of revenue over time as we continue investing in new and existing technologies, including AI, agents, Data Cloud offerings, and the integration of Informatica. source
• General and administrative expenses may decrease as a percentage of revenues over time as we continue to invest in process efficiency initiatives, which includes the use of AI and agents. source
• General and administrative expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2026 were $1,465 million and were relatively flat in absolute dollars compared to the same period a year ago. source
• Our fiscal year ends on January 31. source

Impact estimates